Baked sweet potato gratin with béchamel and Parmesan

For some years now, orange potatoes have been easy to find in Italian kitchens, and often my Instagram followers ask me for a recipe that makes the most of this slightly sweet tuber in a savory dish. I usually slice these potatoes thinly and bake them in the oven, sprinkled with plenty of Parmesan cheese.…

ByMonica3 December 20250Comments

Bologna Food Christmas COURSES INGREDIENTS Main Course Meat OCCASIONS RECIPES

Stuffed capon from Bologna, a home recipe for special events

The Christmas menu was a puzzle that, year after year, took shape and changed. Some dishes were untouchable dishes and others went in and out of the composition each time. Stuffed capon, in our house, also called galantina, was a Christmas dish of the second group. And if it did not take its place on the Christmas lunch…

ByMonica12 December 20240Comments

Bologna Food Breakfast and Merenda Cakes and Cookies Christmas COURSES Fruits INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES

Sabadoni cookies from cucina povera of Romagna and Bologna

Sabadoni cookies are sweet, rectangular-shaped tortelli filled with chestnuts and a handful of other ingredients. They are a typical sweet from the cucina povera of Romagna, which we can find under the same name or under that of chestnut tortelli in an area that also includes Bologna and Ferrara. The name sabadoni comes from saba, the…

ByMonica7 November 20240Comments

Christmas Drinks OCCASIONS RECIPES

Vino caldo recipe, the mulled wine of Romagna

In Romagna, mulled wine was called vino caldo (warm wine). I use a form in the past tense since only a handful of memories and a few mentions in gastronomic collections of Romagna cuisine, above all dated ones, survive on that drink, which Romagna peasants used to fight winter frost and seasonal ailments. The mulled wine implies…

ByMonica16 January 20240Comments

Chocolate Christmas COURSES Desserts INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES Sunday Lunch

A recipe for chocolate pralines called Cri Cri

Cri Cri are chocolate pralines of Piedmontese origin, and if you're wondering what they have to do with me recounting the cuisine of Emilia-Romagna, I'll tell you right now. On January 6 in Italy, we celebrate the Befana, which closes the festivities of the Christmas season. That day, I would wake up early while the house was…

ByMonica4 January 20240Comments

Christmas COURSES Desserts OCCASIONS RECIPES

Layered pandoro star with mascarpone cream

The Christmas layered pandoro is a dish that takes me back to the 1980s and 1990s, when I was cheerful and carefree in that lighthearted way typical of youth. During the Christmas holidays, mascarpone was a widely used ingredient, often layered into pandoro. At some point, layered pandoro became one of the desserts served at Christmas lunch…

ByMonica24 December 20230Comments

Cakes and Cookies Chocolate Christmas COURSES INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES

Chocolate panpepato from Ferrara, the recipe

The panpepato, or pampapato, is a skullcap-shaped cake. Dedicated to the Pope, created in 1580 from an idea of Alfonso II d'Este, the Lord of the city of Ferrara, and still produced both artisanally and commercially. Made from a mixture of cake flour, honey, bitter cocoa, toasted almonds, a mixture of spices (the composition is…

ByMonica12 December 20230Comments

Christmas COURSES INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES Seafood Soups

Fish cappelletti of Adua. Romagna stuffed pasta

Some flavors evoke positive thoughts related to people who loved us. Cappelletti di Magro makes me think of Adua. She and her home tailoring lab are among the fond memories of my childhood and adult life. Cappelletti of Romagna Cappelletti is a stuffed pasta typical of Romagna. The name literally means "little-hats". You can find cappelletti filled with meat…

ByMonica13 December 20220Comments

Bologna Food Cakes and Cookies Christmas COURSES OCCASIONS RECIPES

Panone cake. The Christmas cake of Bologna from cucina povera

Panone and Certosino are traditional Christmas cakes from Bologna. Similar yet different. Panone was the sweet of the Bolognese countryside, while Certosino was from the city. Both recipes are ancient and belong to the Northern European tradition of cakes made with dried and candied fruit, honey, and wine. They have a rich, slightly old-fashioned flavor,…

ByMonica5 December 20210Comments

Bologna Food Christmas COURSES Fruits Gluten-free INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES Salads and Sides Sunday Lunch

A family recipe. Homemade pickled vegetables (Giardiniera)

Pickled vegetables, in this case, sweet and sour, are called Giardiniera in Italian. A very poetic name since it evokes the word garden. Giardiniera brings to mind the colors of the dish and the vegetables from the garden. It is an ancient method of preserving vegetables in season and eating them the next. I still remember when, at…

ByMonica9 November 20210Comments